Python is a great language.
Even though I am a C++ programmer - and we usually scoff at 'lesser' languages - Python lends itself to a more playful, exploratory and functional programming style.
That "the syntax isn't used anywhere" is not an argument against Python. To the contrary! IMO. It makes it easier for you to - at least in the beginning - keep languages separate instead of mixing them up.
Why is college not an option?
I was older than 21 when I decided I wanted to go to collage. I spent about 4 years flipping burgers to save up for the fees and just went.
How long were you studying C++ before you decided you were drowning? It's not something you're going to learn in a couple of weeks or something like that. I've been programming in C++ for ages (years) and still learn new things in it all the time. It took me around 3 months of C++, studying everyday, before I was ready to make my first simple terminal games (blackjack, poker).
You don't necessarily need college to learn coding
Very true. The younger you are the faster you learn, so long as you have the aptitude and the desire to learn it. I learned most of my game development and programming tricks when i was 13, programming in BBC BASIC and 6502 assembler on 8 bit computers.
There was nobody in school who had the time to teach me this, just point me towards any available computer and let me use it on my lunch break to mess around. A lot of time was spent in RTFM (there was no internet back then).
I am very grateful to my teachers back when i was in school for allowing this because it made me who i am today. Not just this but i am also grateful or the fact that in the 80s they knew how to write good instruction manuals for computers that were actual reference manuals, documenting everything from how to turn it on, to the timings of the opcodes. These days the instruction manual with the laptop is eight pages of "here is where the on button is and here is a number in india to call if it breaks" in 30 languages.
If you want to land a job as a programmer, however, you really need to go to college.
I actually discussed this with a friend of mine who runs his own software company. He said his employees (programmers) are almost exactly a 50/50 split of people who studied at university/college and people who did not. As long as you can do the stuff they task you in the interview and do well in the other parts of the interview, there is no reason you should have to go to college or not. Of course, some jobs list that you must have a degree of some sort in the job requirements, but for those that do not, it is enough to be able to do the stuff. This same guy complained that actually what they are teaching in courses at universities is not what is required in the software industry and it's often times the case that a fresh graduate needs six months training to do the job. It's much better for him (and therefore some other people also) to just get in someone who can do the job almost straight away.
Edit: Basically, going to college is not a necessity, but being skilled in the right area IS!
If you want to land a job as a programmer, however, you really need to go to college.
I actually discussed this with a friend of mine who runs his own software company. He said his employees (programmers) are almost exactly a 50/50 split of people who studied at university/college and people who did not. As long as you can do the stuff they task you in the interview and do well in the other parts of the interview, there is no reason you should have to go to college or not. Of course, some jobs list that you must have a degree of some sort in the job requirements, but for those that do not, it is enough to be able to do the stuff. This same guy complained that actually what they are teaching in courses at universities is not what is required in the software industry and it's often times the case that a fresh graduate needs six months training to do the job. It's much better for him (and therefore some other people also) to just get in someone who can do the job almost straight away.
Edit: Basically, going to college is not a necessity, but being skilled in the right area IS!
This is just one company and one persons opinion. Lots of people would companies are different. However you won't get refused an interview because you have a degree but lots of companies will refuse to interview you if you don't. Having a piece of paper opens a lot of doors.
Yes, indeed.
I frequently hear of people with 20 years of experience who ain't gonna be hired because they haven't got a degree. Which is totally bollocks, of course. But try and convince "Management" ..
Tell your friend, Mats, that he's awesome 
The industry needs more people like him.
We all know experience and academic qualifications are very different.
No matter what is taught at university, when someone leaves uni and goes to their first proper job, there will always be 6 months to a year of finding your feet and somewhat intensive training, thrown in at the deep end.
This is because no amount of education can properly simulate the real world, and really doesn't prepare you for it either.
The university degree system harks back to a simpler time, where those who had any real education went to uni and those who didnt finished school at 16 and did what their dad did (worked in the mine, worked in the production line or learned a seperate skilled trade etc). Those with the university education became managers, professors and teachers. Back then, those who had money went to university because they could afford to as it was expensive and a rather elitist insitution. Those who did not have money had no choice in the matter, regardless of their level of aptitude. Fortunately, this is no longer the case and everyone, regardless of wealth, has a chance of going to university.
The world has changed since then and you can get the same level of education, without the hard paper proof that you have it, by learning online.
Not that i'm trying to devalue the worth of degrees for all those that spent four years studying to get one - i did too, but after doing so, i can see the real worth of it, or sometimes more like lack of value.
There is also a sense of entitlement between new graduates here in the uk, they expect to leave university and walk straight into a high paid job, and refuse to start at the bottom making cups of tea. It is an unfortunate fact of life that no matter what your qualifications you always start at the bottom, the qualifications just allow you to advance from the bottom to the top faster.
My two cents is now quite firmly inserted into this conversation.
I fully agree, but I am living in Denmark where software developers are either outsourced from Poland or from much further East, or employed only while having a relevant college degree. There is no way to get into the industry without that, except being part of a startup.
That is all due to fierce competition.
